Turn Your One Hit Wonder Promo T-Shirt Into A Marketing Superstar

Simon Elliott

20-Oct

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DESIGN

Customised t-shirts are a best-seller for us, year round. They're the go-to garment for everything: promotional t-shirts, company workwear t-shirts, stag do t-shirts, sports club t-shirts . . . the list really is endless.

This is why we've put so much into them. There are mountains of customisable t-shirts out there, so we've made sure ours stand out in both their customisable design options and their amazing high quality. And it pays off.

The thing is, everyone loves a freebie, but not every freebie deserves to be loved!

It's X-Factor season, so it's nearly time to harvest another one hit wonder to fill the gossip mags for the first half of 2018.

It seems insane how quickly we tire of these stars, given how much money was invested and how much time the nation took as a whole to vote for them to win.

It sort of always reminds us of other disposable goodies: single-use promo t-shirts. Like the other disposable bad boy - single-use plastic water bottles - they're a little bit guilt-inducing.

With a growing number of customised clothing suppliers and promo t-shirt printers, all competing to offer the best price, it's no wonder that value promo t-shirts seem like a great deal. At first glance, a super cheap promo t-shirt looks like a great bargain - people love a free t-shirt after all. But, by investing a little more in your printed promo t-shirts, you could get a HUGE amount more out of them. Here's why:

The Quality Will Represent Your Business

Marketing is all about subliminal messages. Whatever you're selling, there's one selling point that will always be a big plus: high quality.

Even though they're getting a free t-shirt, you don't want potential customers to be struck by how poor quality anything you are offering is.

By gifting them with a polyester, badly put together garment, with see-through fabric that falls apart the minute they get it over their heads, they will be subconsciously linking these feeling of disappointment and worthlessness to YOUR business.

They'll also think that your main concern is how many pennies you can save by cutting corners and that you don't care about how your customers perceive you.

People Will Want to Win It

Promo t-shirts make great competition prizes. Well, great promo t-shirts make great prizes. Creating something someone wants to win, whether by finishing a race, or a prize draw, makes people feel that your t-shirt, and your product, is desirable.

To feel like the lucky winners are getting a prize, and not just palmed off with a cheap freebie you'd have given away anyway, the quality of the fabric is key.

They have to be able to touch it and think "Ooh! That's nice!"

All of our t-shirts are produced from the highest quality, 100% cotton. It feels expensive and together with the finishing touches, looks like something someone would pay money for in a shop, instead of just get as a freebie with their cereal.

You Should Call Chico Time On Single Use Cheap Promo T-Shirts

We pride ourselves on our ethical background and strive for sustainability and to care for the environment wherever we can. We couldn't have these values while offering cheap promo t-shirts that we knew were going to be fodder for landfill.

Single-use products and disposability used to be a plus, a selling point even. But just like Chico Time, the novelty has worn off. Plastic water bottles, single-use carrier bags, disposable coffee cups; they all leave a bit of bad taste in your mouth.

As well as creating a product that we're confident people will use again and again, we've made sure our manufacturing processes are as environmentally friendly as possible too. All of our fabric offcuts are sent to a repurposing facility and all of our dyes have been tested to ensure they are eco-friendly.

Does Your Free Promo T-Shirt Pass The Instagram Test? #doubtit

The trick to making your promo t-shirts work harder for you is to design something that people really want to be wear that just happens to have been a freebie.

Gone are the days when your shoddy old t-shirts could be consigned to the gym drawer. With the growth of the athleisure trend, the lines between fashion and function are blurring - and that goes both ways. High-end sports gear is being worn both as everyday wear and as high-performance kit for the gym.

And so much more importantly, with the worldwide domination of Instagram, it's pretty much accepted that a gym session without a selfie is a criminal waste of a workout. To get your message out there, your customised promo t-shirt tribe have to be excited about showing it off.

Here's a trick - take a look at your current promo t-Shirts. Now ignore or cover up the logo. What do you think of it now? Is your promo t-shirt something you'd want to wear? Is the way you've used the brand colours attractive and wearable? Do the slogans make sense?

What's really, really important, is how does it feel? Is the fabric of a quality you'd touch in a shop and consider buying? Is the sizing and fit realistic and flattering?

How about the attention to detail? The quality of the stitching? How much thought has been put into the finishing touches? Is there any standout design or eye-catching details?

If what you have in your hands is a bog-standard, cheapest promo t-shirt that wouldn't be suitable to be sold, then know that it will have a very short life. And it will never see the fuzzy light of an Instagram filter.

A short shelf life for your latest marketing product is fine if you're Simon Cowell looking for a Christmas number one and a calendar to sell to people who don't know what else to buy for their grannies. But if your marketing budget isn't quite as big as Simon's, you're probably going to want to make your investment last a little longer.

Your Staff Will Become Leaders Of Your Cult

A desirable printed t-shirt is even more important if your staff are going to be wearing them. I used to work for a chain of bars that had a really exciting marketing department. Every night, customers used to try and buy the company t-shirts off our backs. As they weren't for sale, they were elevated to hugely desirable items, only available if you were an employee, or won one in a competition.

This cult status carries over to your brand - instilling desirability and interest. There are, of course, also important economic considerations as to why you don't want work t-shirts to be one hit wonders too. My granny used to say "Buy it cheap and buy it twice!" Of course, I rolled my eyes at her and bought whatever cheap t-shirt I had in my sights at the time. And of course she was always right; my bargain t-shirt would fall to bits and I would have to buy something new. She always gives such good advice. I can't wait to see who wins X Factor this year so I know what calendar to buy her.

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